St. Padre Pio & Snuff Tobacco

[TwoNames]

Hello !

Is is true, that Padre Pio used snuff tobacco? Would be that kind of tobacco use, considered in any way wrong/sinful? I’ve heard about chew tobacco before, and also about smoking tobacco of course, but snuff tobacco is used in the same way as cocaine, hence my question.

Oh and I’ve read about this here:

In the Habit: A History of Catholicism and Tobacco – Catholic World Report

Have a wonderful day!

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Many saints used snuff, including St. Teresa of Avila.

Presumably they used it in moderation. Padre Pio also enjoyed a beer once in a while.

Snuff is nowhere near as strong or habit-forming as cocaine is. You can buy snuff commercially in USA, you can’t buy cocaine anymore (although during an earlier era in history it was legal, popular and even used as a food additive such as in Coca-Cola). In recent years, people have become more aware of the health risks from tobacco use and thus many tobacco products, including snuff, are not used as frequently as they used to be; however, given that Padre Pio and St. Teresa both lived to old age (Teresa was 67 which was very old for her era) and died of ailments having nothing to do with their snuff use, we can easily conclude that their use was within reasonable bounds.